The Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies for short, is the equivalent of the Oscars, only for the worst [Type Category in Here] instead of the best [Type Category in Here]. This award show has been nominating and awarding prizes since the 1980’s to the worst actors, screenplays, movie soundtracks, movies, pictures and screen combos and while it may not be so well known as the Oscars are, you’d be surprised at the winning movies and actors (or rather yet, losing? We can’t make our minds up either) that have been graced by their golden statue. Here are some of the razzie winners that you would have never expected:
Razzie Winners for Worst Actor
Presented to the worst actor that had starred in a movie in the previous year, this category was created in the 1980s and has only been picked up in person one in history, by Tom Green who had starred in Freddy got Fingered in 2001. Some of the “lucky” nominees for this category include:
- Luciano Pavarotti
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Barbara Streisand (in drag)
- John Travolta
- Lorenzo Lamas
- Peter O’Toole (yes, we couldn’t believe it either)
- Richard Gere (not for Runaway Bride or Pretty Woman)
- Al Pacino (…who would have thought?)
- Tom Cruise
- Prince
- Sylvester Stallone
- Patrick Swayze
- Kevin Costner
- Bruce Willis
- George W. Bush (won, played himself in Farenheit 9/11)
The record for most Razzies (and most nominations) is held by Sylvester Stallone with four, but there are several other actors with multiple wins: Adam Sandler and Kevin Costner (each has three) and Pauly Shore (with two).
Razzie Winners for Worst Actress
The female equivalent of the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor, this prize was also first awarded in 1981, but since the award has a humorous nature, men playing women (actors in drag) are also nominated in this category. As with the men, there is also a record for most Razzies held by Madonna (five awards), followed by Bo Derek (three), Pia Zadora, Sharon Stone and Demi Moore with two. Other nominees have been:
- Olivia Newton-John
- Barbara Streisand
- Morgan Fairchild
- Kim Basinger
- Liza Minnelli (also won)
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Whitney Huston
- Uma Thurman
- Julia Roberts
- Sandra Bullock
- Spice Girls (all 5 of them)
- Catherine Zeta-Jones
- Angelina Jolie
- Charlize Theron
- Drew Barrymore
- Jessica Alba
- Cameron Diaz
- Sarah Jessica Parker
- Kristen Stewart
- Halle Berry
Worst Screen Couple
As weird as it may seem, this category holds contradictory winners and nominees. Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt tied for first position in 1994 as the worst couple (in spite of 2 Oscar nominations, a BAFTA win, 3 MTV Movie Award wins and many other wins and nominations) in the movie Interview with a Vampire. Demi Moore and Burt Reynolds won the same category in 1996 for the movie Striptease, and in 1998, Leo DiCaprio and Leo DiCaprio (twin role) won the award (or did he win it twice?!) for the movie The Man in the Iron Mask, followed by hilarious others such as 1995s: Any combination of two people (or two body parts) for the movie Showgirls, entire casts for Sex and the City 2, Lindsay Lohan and Lindsay Lohan (“as the yang to her own yin”) in the movie I know Who Killed Me and Jaden Smith and Will Smith on planet nepotism in the movie After Earth.
All in all this award show is something way to underrated for the value of entertainment it offers so make sure to watch it constantly when it airs-you’d be surprised how much fun they can offer you.